Scott Pilutik

I am an attorney and consultant living and working in Manhattan, focusing primarily on church/state constitutional law. I'm a recognized expert on the Church of Scientology organization. I also have strong interests in intellectual property law where it intersects with emerging media, and free speech.

No small amount of ink has been spilled over an alleged film that allegedly caused riots throughout pockets of the middle east, allegedly leading to the death of the US Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and some of his staff members. I hedge because from the start of this story so many facts have been [...]

In the earliest hours of November 15, 2011, I finally drifted off to sleep after the NHL Network had looped for perhaps a third time. The mumbling TV probably caused me to miss my phone’s space-agey text message notification, even though it lay inches from my head. It wasn’t until a half hour later that [...]

I rarely dive into sensationalist crime but this story about a mother, Ria Ramkissoon, accused of starving her son to death at the suggestion and behest of her fellow cult members (because he failed begin his dinner with an “amen”) is interesting because of the unusual plea agreement into which she entered.

NBC (and MSNBC) relentlessly runs a show called “To Catch a Predator“, which is simply a televised sting operation–middle aged men, apparently of the belief that they are chatting with a 15 year old girl, take the bold step of visiting the “girl,” only to be confronted by a dour and smug Stone Phillips inside [...]

It must be the grimmest morning ever on the Orange Connecticut campus of the hyper-conservative Legionaries for Christ, as they are forced to reflect on, for eternity, the Vatican’s decision to sanction their founder and leader, Father Marcial Maciel. Maciel had allegedly (and by allegedly I mean damningly clear to anyone willing to look) molested [...]

The new Pope has not disappointed thus far; his newly formed Congregation for Intermeddling in the Civil Affairs of Other Nations is rounding out nicely. Not that inartful interruptions in Other People’s Politics is new to the Vatican – indeed, they’ve been doing it for thousands of years – but Pope Benedict is signaling that [...]

I just finished Vows of Silence by Jason Berry and Gerald Renner – which I highly recommend. About 1/3 of the book concerns a mini-cult within the Catholic Church – the Legionaries of Christ, headed by Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado. Knowing a little something about Scientology, I couldn’t help but be reminded of L Ron [...]

During Condoleezza Rice’s recent visit to the Vatican, the Holy See’s own Secretary of State, Angelo Sodano, asked that the US State Department intercede on its behalf in a class-action sex abuse lawsuit filed in Kentucky that the Vatican is not entirely comfortable with. As the National Catholic Reporter article helpfully points out, suing foreign [...]